Sink or Swim
by perks-of-being-a-koala
Summary: In 1912, rich Will and poor Sonny board the doomed Titanic. It's like the movie... but it's not.
1. Chapter 1

It was a beautiful spring day in Southampton. The sky was a deep, deep blue. The first birds of the new season were flying above and new babies were chirping their cares away. The sun seemed to sparkle down on the largest ocean liner man had ever created, the _RMS Titanic_. The ship was huge. Outstandingly huge. The people standing below were in utter astonishment at how huge it really was. Soon, the dock would be open and the people with the tremendously expensive tickets would step onboard to enjoy the biggest and best voyage they'd ever even imagined dreaming of.

The ship was prodigiously luxurious. Inside sat brand-new furniture. Brand new tableware, bedsheets, and beds were among this. Everything was new. Everything was unbelievably extravagant. Especially the higher class section. No one, not even the richest of the rich people who were boarding, had ever seen anything quite as amazing before. It truly would be a magical journey to New York City.

A small dark green vehicle parked on the dock, trying to avoid hitting the many people who were darting every which way, preparing to board. Out of the driver's side door stepped a 29-year-old man, the driver. He shut the door and classily opened the back door. Out stepped the beautiful, stunningly dressed Samantha Horton. She stepped over to the side and let her 18-year-old son, William DiMera climb out. She looked up at the ship in amazement. "Wow, William! Isn't it dazzling? It's the most astounding thing I've ever had the pleasure of looking at!"

Will's father and Samantha's husband, Lucas Horton appeared behind them. "Oh, good! You made it safely!"

Samantha turned around and happily pecked Lucas on the cheek. "Wow, my darling, how did you ever afford to put us on this thing? It's spectacular, truly astonishing!"

"How didn't I afford it? We can have anything we want, my dearest love!" Lucas responded, throwing an arm around Samantha's shoulder. "You should know this by now!"

Samantha grinned and snuggled into her husband. "Oh, my sweetheart, shall we get on now?"

Lucas nodded. "We shall. Come along, William."

Lucas and Samantha then walked away, leaving poor Will behind and not even really noticing he hadn't come along. Will stuffed a hand in his pocket and sighed, gazing up at the ship. It really _was _huge. It was extremely luxurious. Too luxurious for him.

Will didn't ask for much; he never had. As a little boy, he'd never really had a sharing problem. He had always been willing to give up his toys to any other child that had wanted them. When he didn't get them back, he didn't even care most of the time. He had gotten this from his father, the very generous and somewhat mischievous E.J. DiMera. Will had grown up quite a mischievous child. He never really got into trouble, but that didn't mean he didn't sneak around and do stuff he wasn't necessarily supposed to do. He didn't usually get caught at it.

When Will was twelve, he and E.J. had just gotten back from the city when they walked in on Samantha with another man - - Lucas. E.J. had gone completely off at this, yelling and screaming at his wife for over two hours. The next morning, they were made known that after he had left the house that night, he'd jumped off a high bridge and landed on a rock below, killing himself. Will had been crushed and didn't speak to anyone for nearly a month. Strangely, Samantha hadn't seemed very affected by it. She and Lucas sneaked around for over a year. They had ordered Will to keep it a secret. Lucas had threatened Will and gotten abusive a few times behind Samantha's back.

About a year and a half after E.J. committed suicide, Samantha and Lucas finally told the world they were a couple. A year after that, they were wed. Will didn't like it at all. Lucas was a very, very wealthy man. He often used big words Will didn't know the meaning of, and he was pretty sure his mother didn't either, even though she pretended she did. She had eventually learned the words and had gotten quite a big vocabulary herself, and became the ideal spoiled brat thanks to Lucas. She seemed to part further and further from her only son each day.

Lucas was still abusive when he became Will's stepfather. Samantha somehow never found out. Whenever Will tried to tell her about it, she'd viciously snap at him and they'd have an argument. Finally, after about four years of putting up with it, Will just shut up about it and kept his emotions inside.

He realized he was a homosexual when he was sixteen years old and came out to his mother. At first, she'd been reluctant to believe it and had insisted on getting him mental help, but she eventually came around to it and accepted him. When Lucas found out, it was quite a different story. He became even _more _abusive toward Will, stating that he'd somehow beat the disease out of the poor boy. Will always felt trapped.

He'd never wanted to go on Titanic. He'd never wanted to leave Southampton, especially not on the most lavish ship ever built. He had been perfectly fine and had begged his mother to let him stay behind, but she'd refused to let him, saying that it'd help the Horton image if they brought their dear son along. That was all she cared about anymore, what people thought of her. Will couldn't stand it.

So here he was, standing on the dock, getting ready to board the ship, even though Lucas and Samantha probably wouldn't even notice if he just went home right then and there. He honestly considered it, but he figured that he might as well. Maybe something good would somehow come out of it. Besides, he'd always wanted to visit America someday.

The driver walked around and passed Will, getting back in the car. Will sighed. "Hey."

The driver turned around. "Why, yes, can I help you, sir?"

Will dug in his pocket and pulled out five dollars. He handed it to the driver. "Here. It seems my parents - - my mom and stepdad, I mean, forgot to give you a tip. Thanks a lot for getting us here."

The man smiled. "Why, you're very welcome, sir. I do hope you enjoy your voyage to New York."

They bid each other goodbye, and the car drove away. Will sighed. He looked up at the boat. Oh, well. There was never a better time than the present. He tried to be happy and walked up to the ship.

**A/N: I know I got some last names wrong, but Sami was married to E.J., whose last name is DiMera. That would make her a DiMera, which would make Will a DiMera. When she married Lucas, that made her a Horton, but Will never changed his last name probably because he was so close with E.J. So. Whoo. I hope you enjoyed the beginning! Next chapter, we meet Sonny Kiriakis and he gets on the ship. **


	2. Chapter 2

Sonny Kiriakis stared up at Titanic. His breath was taken away; he'd never seen anything this enormous before. He looked over at his mother. "Wow, Mom… this is going to take us back to America?"

Adrienne nodded. "Yes, Sonny. Your father is waiting for us back in New York." She looked at her son. "Oh, I'm so excited about getting to see him again!"

Sonny grinned. "So am I!"

Adrienne pulled her son into a warm hug. The ship's horn blew. Adrienne giggled. "Well, I guess it's time for us to board the ship!"

Sonny and his mother excitedly ran over to board the ship with their few bags. Six months ago, they had traveled to Southampton to see if Sonny could get tuition to go to school there. Just to take the trip across the Atlantic, Adrienne had had to sell a gold necklace her great grandmother had handed down to her. Sonny's father, Justin was originally supposed to be the one going to Southampton with him, but he had come down with a vicious fever only days before they left. Fortunately, he had recovered. Being the protective mother Adrienne was, she wouldn't let Sonny go alone, and ultimately decided to go with him.

She still couldn't believe that they'd be getting to go on the most luxurious ship in the world. It was a strange occurrence. About a month ago, Adrienne had been in a fret about how they were going to get back to America. The Kiriakis family had always been a little below middle-class, and the antique necklace was the only way they had of getting to and/or from England. Adrienne and Justin had thought the necklace would be worth much more than it actually was, so they were stuck in Southampton until Adrienne could somehow come up with enough money to get them back to their homeland.

She and Sonny had been walking down the street one day when a hoodlum had attacked them and stole Adrienne's purse. They both screamed for help, and the police eventually ran the guy down. When they took Adrienne's purse back, they also unknowingly took the hoodlum's tickets to Titanic. When the two discovered this, Adrienne initially wanted to tell the police about the accidentally stolen tickets, but Sonny had talked her into keeping them, since Titanic could've very well been their only way back to America for a long time.

So here they were. They each handed their tickets to the doorman. He looked down at them, then back at the tickets, as if he weren't sure they were real. After a brief look, he let the two pass.

Adrienne and Sonny took an elevator to the very bottom of the ship, which was a new experience for them. They walked down a somewhat crowded hallway until they found room 8B. They walked inside and discovered two clean beds waiting for them.

Adrienne smiled. "Sonny, this is it! This is where we'll be sleeping!"

Sonny nodded. "I know! Mother, this is so exciting! I cannot wait!"

They hugged again. They were about to experience a luxurious voyage, a voyage neither of them had never even began to dream about. Sonny was positive he'd have a ball. There were parties for children, young adults, and older people that could go on all night. The food was supposed to be spectacular, and there were plenty of people Sonny's age that he could get to know. Maybe he'd luck up and meet some openly homosexual guy. He'd been feeling lonely lately.

When he'd first told Adrienne that he liked men and not women, she'd opened up to the idea immediately. So had Justin. They'd fully accepted Sonny for who he was – their son, who was, always had been, and always would be wonderful in their eyes. This little piece of information wasn't going to change anything about their relationship with their son. They loved him just as much, if not more for coming out to them about it, and they got extremely defensive about anyone who judged him.

One night, Adrienne had asked Sonny if he fancied any men. At first, Sonny had felt awkward about talking about this with her, but soon he came around, and they even discussed attractive boys every now and then. It had brought them even closer than they already were. For having such an extremely accepting family, for being able to even think about getting tuition, for getting to see the world, for being able to board the most luxurious ship the world had ever seen, Sonny considered himself a pretty lucky guy. He didn't take anything for granted, and seemed to be ready for anything that came his way.

He was thrilled about getting to see his father again. He'd missed him these past six months. They'd written a few letters to each other to keep the other informed about the happenings in New York and Southampton. Justin always loved hearing from his son just as much as Sonny loved hearing from his dad. Seeing each other for the first time in six months would be a great experience.

After Adrienne and Sonny got unpacked, they headed out to the deck to say goodbye to all the people watching the ship leave. They waved their arms wildly at a bunch of strangers. Another horn blew, and in a few seconds they noticed the ship was moving away from the land. It felt so weird.

Sonny, ecstatic, ran away from his mother and ran down to the main deck. He jumped up and grabbed onto the railing. He was at the front of the ship. Standing on a rail, he held his arms out to the sides and grinned, letting the wind run through his hair. He laughed. This was the most fun he'd ever had.

"I'm flying!" he yelled happily. "I'm flying!"

"Jackson Sonny Kiriakis, get down from there!" Adrienne laughed as she ran over behind her son.

Sonny jumped down. "Mom, it was great! It feels like you're the king of the world!"

Adrienne hugged her son. "Well, I'm glad you're already having fun! We're officially on the dream voyage!"

Sonny nodded quickly. "This is the best day ever!"

**A/N: Thank you to ALL, every single one of my awesome reviewers, favoriters, and followers! Wow! This story's gotten a lot of hype apparently! And to the poor guest who's been checking back every day, I hope this satisfies you! :D It's taken me awhile to figure out just how to write this chapter, but I finally did it! Hope you all enjoyed!**


	3. Chapter 3

"Come on, Sonny. Wake up. It's time to go get dinner."

Sonny rolled over in bed; he'd fallen asleep shortly after they'd boarded the ship. He _really _didn't want to open his eyes. He had been so excited about the voyage to America that he hadn't slept much the night before, and he was tired as all hell. He rubbed his left eye and forced both of them open. "Mmm… do we have to?"

Adrienne stood above him. She laughed. "Well, you don't want to go to sleep hungry tonight, do you?"

Sonny groggily sat up in bed, tossing some pillows aside. "No, I guess not… what kind of food are they serving us?" He grabbed his shoes from beside the bed and started to slide them on.

Adrienne shrugged. "I don't know. I guess we'll find out when we get down there."

After Sonny got his shoes on, he stood up and stretched, yawning. He scratched the back of his head and smiled at his mother. "Alright. Let's go."

**OoO**

"Will, my darling, I do believe it's time for the serving of dinner." Sami looked in the mirror, brushing her hair a little. "Your father already left, but I decided to stay behind and walk with you." She turned to look at her son and grinned.

Will stood up from the chair he was sitting in and walked over to his mother. "Don't call Lucas my father. He's not. And I didn't need anybody."

Sami fixed Will's collar. "Sweetums, of course you did! People of our kind cannot be seen just wandering the halls alone."

Will's eyebrow arched. "'Our kind?' What do you mean?"

Sami sighed. "Will, you're one of the richest people on the ship. You're better than many of the other passengers. They have to think you know what you're doing."

Will glared at his mother. "When I was younger you said nobody was better than anybody."

Sami half-smiled. "Well, things are different now. You know that." She patted her son's shoulders. "Now, let's go have dinner. You know your father doesn't like to wait." She turned away and headed for the door.

Will felt like he could explode. He was filled with anger, sadness, hurt, and many more emotions he couldn't even name. How could his mother think she was better than anyone? Before she met Lucas she'd always said that rich people were no better than the poor and poor people were no worse than rich. She used to treat people as equals. He should've known Lucas would change that.

He wanted her to stop calling Lucas his father more than anything else in the entire world. E.J. was and would always be his father, and there was no way in _**hell**_ Lucas was going to even begin to replace him. E.J. would've understood that Will couldn't help being a homosexual. He would've accepted him just the way he was. He wouldn't have tried repeatedly to beat the "disease" out of him. In fact, E.J. would've never laid a hand on Will or his mother. And Sami sure wouldn't have been acting as if she were the queen of the ship. They wouldn't even be on the stupid ship. They'd be sitting at home, having dinner like a normal family right now.

Will wiped a tear out of his eye and headed for the door. He felt as if he couldn't stand his life anymore and he was just about done trying.

**OoO**

Sonny, Adrienne, and a whole group of people danced around like wild animals. A Scottish band played up on a small round stage in the middle of it all. Adrienne laughed crazily and looked over at her son, who was obviously having a ball. He knew the song and was whistling along with it, his head tilted back and his eyes closed, a huge grin on his face. He clapped along with the rhythm of the music and kicked his legs. A blonde girl probably around his age came over and grabbed his arm, wrapping it around hers. Sonny's eyes widened and he looked over at his mother, who just laughed. Sonny shrugged, and the two danced around in circles.

After the song was over, the girl looked at Sonny. "My name's Abby… what's your name?"

"Hi, I'm Sonny." He smiled and reached out his hand.

Abby took his hand and shook it happily. "Very nice to meet you, Sonny. How'd you end up on the ship?"

"Actually, it was a pretty big accident," Sonny said, laughing. "We uh… accidentally stole some hoodlums' tickets."  
Abby made a face, giggling. "Accidentally?"  
"It's a… long story." Sonny laughed.

"Well, you can tell me all about it!" Abby said, taking his hand and leading him over to a table as another song started.

**OoO**

Will sat, nearly falling over with boredom as the adults all around the table discussed things of their own accord. Sami and Lucas laughed together and sounded like hens as they cackled loudly as if they were trying to be heard over the noise of people chatting. Will just stared at them.

A bald middle-aged man looked over at him and asked, "My, my, Madame Samantha, is this your boy?"

Sami giggled and rubbed Will's shoulder. "Why, yes, this is my darling son, William. William, say hello to the nice man."

Will glared at his mother. "My name's Will, not William."

Sami snatched her hand away and gave her son a hateful look. "Will…"

Lucas gave Will a death glare. "Now, now, boy. Do not disrespect your mother like that. Especially not in front of other people." He smiled at the man and took a sip of his champagne.

Will crossed his arms and looked at the man. "Hi, I'm _Will_. It's nice to meet you."

The man reached out for Will's hand, but he never gave it to him.

"William, shake his hand," Sami ordered bitterly.

Will ignored his mother and just stared at the man's hand. "Do you have a problem?"

Lucas stood up. "Will, come with me. We need to have a little talk."

Will looked at his mother, but she just stared down at her empty plate and smoothed out her fancy dress. "Will, do as your father says."

"He's NOT my father!" Will growled.

"Come. On." Lucas stood above Will, trying not to lose his short temper in front of all these people.

Will bit his lip and stood up, following Lucas out of the upper class dining hall.

Outside in the hallway, when no one was around, Lucas grabbed Will's shirt and yanked him into a closet. He pushed Will up against the wall and punched him in the stomach. Hard. Will grunted in pain. "Now you listen, boy. What you did out there was not acceptable." He punched Will two more times as he said the last two words. "You embarrassed both your mother and me. You are _my _son now. You will do what I say, when I say it. Understand?"

Will didn't answer. He just looked down.

"UNDERSTAND?"

Will flinched and slowly shook his head. "Yes."

"Yes?"

Will glared at the man. "Yes _sir_. That good enough for you?"

Lucas grinned. "Perfect." He punched Will in the stomach again, then opened the door. Once they were in the hallway, Lucas looked at Will and said, "Now, go back to the room. Your mother and I will be there as soon as the party is over." And he walked away.

Will watched his stepfather walk away. He couldn't believe what had just happened. He couldn't believe how his mother was treating him. What had happened back there? His mother could get bad sometimes but it had never been like that. Tonight she acted as if she were… ashamed of Will.

His eyes filled with tears and as they began to roll down his cheeks, he made a decision. A decision that would take all the pain away forever. A decision that would make all of this stop.

Will would kill himself. And he would do it right now.

**A/N: HEY! Sorry it takes me so long to update, this story is difficult to write! But don't worry, it's coming along, slowly but surely! Reviews? I wanna know how I'm doing :] Thanks!  
**


	4. Chapter 4

Will ran and ran. His eyes were filled with tears and they kept pouring down his face. He knew where he wanted to go but he wasn't sure he was going the right way. He had snapped. He was completely confused as to what was really going on. All he really knew was that he needed the pain to stop and he needed it to stop now.

He didn't even notice all the people that stared as he ran by them. He tripped and fell at one point and a young man started to offer to help him up, but as soon as he collected himself he was off again. He let out a whimper and started praying for God to forgive him for what he was about to do.

Finally, Will reached the back of the boat. The water was roaring. He was happy about this. He didn't want his last few seconds to be silent. He wiped his eyes and turned around to make sure no one was around. All the other passengers were either inside their cabins or at the front of the boat. He hoped no one had followed him.

He grabbed onto the railing and lifted himself up, crawling over to the other side of it. He looked down and gasped. It was a _long _fall. When he hit the water it would surely hurt. He began to have second thoughts about what he was doing, but immediately kicked himself. This had to be done. He couldn't stand his life anymore. He closed his eyes and began to let go.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

Will's eyes opened and his head snapped around. There stood a (very handsome) brunette young man, wearing a light brown flannel shirt and grey poor-looking pants. He had on brown boots with long laces and a dark blue vest.

Will just stared at him. He hadn't heard him over the roaring of the water. He shook his head. "Go away!" The boy took a step forward, and Will leaned forward. "Stop right there! I'll jump, I swear I will!"

The boy stopped, holding his hands up. "Okay, whoa now. What… what are you doing?"

"What's it look like I'm doing?" Will looked down at the water.

The boy raised an eyebrow. "Um… taking a late-night swim? Honestly I wouldn't exactly recommend that."

Will tried to hide a smile. He wouldn't look at the boy. He closed his eyes and kept facing straight ahead. "Well who are you to tell me what to do? Go away. You do your thing and I'll do mine."

The boy just stared at him. "I wasn't being serious. I know what you're doing."

Will opened his eyes a bit. "You don't know me. You don't know me at all. How can you possibly know what I'm doing?"

The boy made a face. "It's… sorta obvious."

Will rolled his eyes. "Just go away! You don't even know me, this is none of your business."

The boy shrugged. "It is now." He took another step forward but Will didn't see it.

Will shook his head. "No, I don't want you here. Just go away."

"Harsh." The boy took a step forward, then stopped. He looked down. "You know… I went to a very expensive school in Southampton."

Will scoffed. "You're lying."

"No, I did. We studied a lot about water pressure and volume there. Water has a volume of 619 meters."

"Yeah, so?"

"Force is equal to acceleration. Acceleration is equal to density, or volume. Density is 1,000 kilograms. Gravity is 9.8—"

"Where are you going with this?!" Will snapped, turning his head.

The boy almost smiled. "Would you like for me to simplify that?"

_He really is smart. _Will sighed. "Whatever. Just hurry and leave."

"It means that when you hit the water down there, the force will be so strong that your bones will break. And it will be so cold that on impact it will send you into shock. When you are in shock you can still feel. And you'll be down there feeling indescribable pain, like a thousand nails being driven into you at one time, until you finally drown. Which can take up to four minutes."

Will's mouth fell open in shock. He hadn't really thought about that. He kicked himself again. He couldn't stop now. He growled under his breath. "What do you care? You don't even know me. I'll be down there drowning and sure, you'll feel sympathy because you just watched someone kill himself but you'll get over it. You don't care."

The boy bit his lip. "If I didn't care, then why would I still be here?"

"You're just saving someone. I am of no value to you."

The boy walked forward and grabbed the back of Will's shoulder. "Trust me…" He contemplated on whether he should say what was running through his mind. Finally he sighed. "Trust me… I care if someone as adorable as you leaves this world feeling like there's no other way out. Because there is. I promise you. It may seem like there is no escape but there is. Change is coming. You just have to wait a little longer."

_**Did he just call me adorable?! **_

__Will looked at the boy. "You think… I'm adorable?"

The boy grinned. "You're not punching me so I take that as a good sign. Now please…" He grabbed Will's arm. "Change your mind? Turn around and let me help you back on the ship?"

Will thought for a second. It would really hurt…

He laughed. "Okay, fine." He grabbed the boy's shoulders for support and slowly turned around on the railing. He looked at him. "My name is Will DiMera."

The boy nodded. "Jackson Kiriakis. But everyone calls me Sonny."

Will half-smiled. "Sonny… that's a nice name."

Sonny giggled. "Thank you." He lifted Will up and over the rail.

Will leaned back and sighed, staring at Sonny. "Wow… thank you. You… saved my life."

Sonny shrugged. "It's no big deal. Come on. Let's get you back to civilization."

They both laughed. Will followed Sonny back to the front of the boat, where Sonny's mother was waiting. She smiled. "Oh, you made a new friend!" She ran to shake Will's hand. "Hi, I'm Adrienne Kiriakis. Is everything alright? We saw you running past. You looked like you had just seen a ghost."

Will smiled and shook his head. "Nah, no ghost. But your son…" He looked at Sonny. "Your son is a really good person."

Adrienne made a face and looked at Sonny. "Why? What did he do?"

"Don't worry about it," Sonny replied.

"Yeah. Let's just say he was there for me when I really had no one." Will seemed humble.

Adrienne giggled. "Wow, you've only known each other for ten minutes and already you're there for each other. How nice!"

Will started to speak when Sami appeared. She did not look happy. She looked at Will. "Come on. Your father is not happy."

"He's not my father," Will said angrily.

Sami looked at Sonny and Adrienne, then grimaced. "Who are you?"

"I'm Adrienne, and this is my son, Sonny." Adrienne held out her hand. "Nice to meet you! You have a very nice son."

Sami grabbed Adrienne's fingers and shook them slightly. "Charmed." She quickly snapped her hand away. "William, let's go." She grabbed Will's arm and pulled him away.

Will looked back at Sonny and Adrienne. "Uh, thank you!" he called back.

Sonny smiled and waved. "Don't mention it!"

Will grinned as Sami continued to pull him away.

After they were gone, Adrienne looked at Sonny. "Well, it seems like you have a new crush."

Sonny made a face. "What are you talking about? I just met him."

"He's a homosexual."

Sonny's eyes widened. "Mom! You don't know!"

"I'm pretty sure." She grinned at her son. "You don't see heterosexuals acting like that."

"Like what?"

Adrienne rolled her eyes. "Come on. Let's get to bed." She chuckled and lead Sonny away.

**A/N: I'm so sorry! I've been very busy with school and whatnot and because of this I sort of fell out of watching Days so I lost inspiration. Summer is here now though and I'm watching it again, and I'm sure I'll have plenty of inspiration :D Reviews are appreciated, as always! Thanks!**


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning, Will was in his room, getting dressed for the day when there was a knock at the door. "Come in," he said happily.

The door opened and in walked Sami. She had a stern but sympathetic expression on her face. She closed the door quietly and walked over and sat on the bed. "Will… come here and sit down." She patted the blanket she was sitting on.

Will smiled and nearly pranced over to where his mother was sitting. He had been thinking about Sonny all night long and what he had said. _"I care if someone as adorable as you leaves this world feeling like there's no other way out." _He was still trying to comprehend the fact that someone as handsome and charming as Sonny had called him adorable.

"Good morning, Mother," he greeted.

Sami gave him an odd look. "You're unusually happy this morning. Quite a change from last night."

Will shrugged. "I slept well." He leaned in closer. "Mother… is that… a bruise?"

Sami put a hand up to her cheek and shook her head, obviously trying to hide something. "Oh, no… it's nothing—"

"Lucas did that to you, didn't he?"

Sami dropped her hand. "Will, sweetie, what does that even matter?"

Will shook his head. He couldn't stop staring at the dark blue mark just below his mother's left eye. Lucas had made many of those on Will's own face, and he knew what a hand mark looked like. "Why did he do it?"

"He didn't," Sami responded, seemingly nervous.

"He did!" Will snapped back. "Why?"

Tears filled Sami's eyes. "It was… it was because of…" She looked down.

"Because of what?" Will was growing furious at his stepfather.

Sami sighed. "It was because of you."

_Great._

"What did I do?!" Will cried.

"You didn't necessarily do anything," Sami replied. "Look, Will, he was in a bad mood last night, and when you ran out of dinner like that…"

"It still gave him no right to lay a hand on you!" Will stood up and clenched his fists angrily. "He _will _pay for this!"

"Will, honey, sit back down!" Sami urged, grabbing Will's wrist and pulling him downward.

He rolled his eyes and sat down. "What, Mother? What is it?" Will may not have always gotten along with his mother, but he still loved her more than anything, and he would be _damned _if that piece of trash touched her in any other way than lovingly.

Sami brushed a strand of hair back behind her ear. "Will, talk to me. What's gotten into you lately? I really want to know." She looked at her son, concern in her eyes.

Will shook his head. "You don't understand! You don't know what Lucas has been doing to me for the—"

"Enough with this Lucas abuses you stuff!" Sami shrieked in annoyance. "I thought we dropped this a long time ago."

"But it is true!" Will cried. "I swear it is!"

"I don't want to hear this anymore!" Sami stood up and stormed across the room so she didn't face her son. "Will, I know Lucas can never replace your father, but at least he tries! He's not perfect, but nobody is. Why can't you just accept him as a part of this family and stop with all this nonsense?"

Will closed his eyes and looked down. Running a hand through his hair, he walked over to his mother and stood behind her. "Even with a bruise on your face from his sick, twisted hands you still don't believe your son. You are some piece of work, Mother."

Sami gasped and turned around, her mouth hanging open in shock. She fiercely slapped her son across the face, making him gasp. He slowly looked back at her. "How DARE you say that to me! I am your mother, and you will NOT disrespect me like that!" She gritted her teeth and nearly slapped him again. "I don't know what has gotten into you lately but it stops now, or you are not to leave this room until the ship docks in New York. Do you understand me?"

"Maybe it'd be better that way since I'd at least have some peace! I never wanted to come on this stupid thing anyway! It's all YOUR fault things have turned out the way they have! You were the one whoring around with Lucas behind Dad's back! You were the one that made him commit suicide! YOU were responsible! YOU are the reason nobody likes this family! It's all YOU!"

Sami gasped as tears filled her eyes. She furiously started hitting Will's chest. "Don't ever talk to me like that again…" She started weeping before she could finish and pushed Will aside, rushing out of the room.

**OoO**

Adrienne and Sonny were sitting out on the deck looking through a book when Will appeared. He tapped Sonny on the shoulder. Sonny looked up at him and started smiling. "Oh, hi!" He jumped up and scratched behind his head. "Didn't expect to see you around."

Will shrugged. "Oh, you know… I'm an explorer. I explore things." Adrienne looked up at him wildly. "Like ships!" he quickly added on.

Adrienne giggled and stood up next to her son. "It's good to see you again. Do you mind me asking if everything was alright last night? Your mother seemed a bit…"

"Mad," Sonny finished.

Adrienne nodded. "Yeah."

Will shrugged. "Oh, yeah, things were fine," he lied. "You just know how moms are. She had been looking around for me for awhile and she was really worried is all. When we got back to the room she was okay again."

"Oh, well good to hear!" Sonny beamed. "We thought you were in trouble or something."

"Nah, I'm a good boy."

They all three laughed. Sonny looked down sheepishly. Adrienne could tell Will made him nervous. She giggled. "So, uh… where are you from, William?"

"No, please, just Will," Will urged, smiling.

Adrienne smiled. "Alright. Where are you from, Will?"

"Uh, I'm from Southampton," Will replied. "My whole family is. We're just going to New York to visit. It's an image thing my par—mother and stepfather wanted. In my honest opinion, it's very stupid. My dad would've never wanted to do any of this."

"Where is your dad?" Sonny asked. Adrienne gave him a wild 'You don't ask people that!' look.

Will shrugged. "He… uh… he passed away a few years ago."

"We're very sorry to hear." Adrienne rubbed Will's shoulder.

"Yeah," Sonny agreed.

Will smiled. "Thank you. So… where are you from?"

"We're from New York," Sonny replied. "I just finished school in Southampton. We actually can't afford to be on this ship. It all sort of happened by accident." Sonny chuckled.

"Do tell." Will giggled, looking into Sonny's eyes.

Sonny felt sparks of some kind as he looked into Will's. "It's uh… a long story. I can tell you later, if you want."

"Sounds like great fun," said Will. He glanced at Adrienne, who was smiling immensely.

Sonny couldn't help but smile like an idiot, which embarrassed him. This conversation wasn't even embarrassing, so he had no idea what was going on. He scratched behind his ear and giggled loudly, then shushed himself. "We have to go." He grabbed his mother's wrist and lead her away. "Bye Will!" He waved kindly.

Will waved back to him. "Bye, Sonny."

Excitement filled them both. They were 95% sure the other one was homosexual, 99% sure there was something between them, and 100% sure they were massively crushing on one another.

**A/N: Hey! Sorry, like I always say, this story is difficult to write haha! Anywho, the term "massively crushing" was probably not around in 1912, but I thought it sounded nice in that situation, and maybe in an alternate universe my 1912 version of Sonny and Will created the term "crushing." Who knows? As always, reviews always appreciated! :D**


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